Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Headlines - Wednesday November 23

I have tried so hard to be a defender of President Obama but I think I have finally come down to my last straw! I am so saddened by the news that the Obama White House is planning to cave in to the Republicans on tax cuts for the rich. I am now convinced that these people wouldn't know a winning political issue if it walked into the Oval Office, sat down on that new god-awful couch and pulled a progressive Supreme Court out of its butt.

I know that the current administration is hoping for a Reagan/Clinton-esque type come back to get re-elected in two years but one thing stands out from those administrations and the current one...those administrations actually stood up to the opposition party, while this one seems determined to remain in a permanent fetal position. What is it about the "tax cuts for the rich" issue that they don't see as a golden opportunity to show the majority of the American people (especially the Middle Class) that they are fighting for them?

We spend $2.4 million a year on health insurance for Republicans in Congress

According to the Los Angeles Times, "the plan most favored by federal workers is Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers a family for about $1,030 a month." Of that total, "taxpayers kick in $700." So far there are 242 Republicans set to be seated in the incoming House of Representatives (that could only go higher) and 47 Republicans in the Senate. The taxpayer bill for insuring all those members over the course of a single year comes to just over $2.4 million ($700 X 12 months X 289 members).

Chump change? Yes, it is. That said, chump change seems to always at the heart of the most provocative political battles. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made a big issue over the fact that $1 million was being appropriated for a Woodstock museum in upstate New York

The youth met Fiala in 2007, according to Rhodes. The attorney said the priest started "grooming him," buying him gifts including a computer and a car. In early 2008, when the boy was 16, under the guise of providing private catechism lessons, Fiala "gained access to him and began to sexually abuse him once or twice a month, including on church grounds," Rhodes said.

At the time, Fiala was administrator of Sacred Heart of Mary in Rocksprings, Texas, which is in Edwards County. The alleged abuse occurred in two counties -- Edwards and Howard -- and included the youth's rape at gunpoint, the attorney said.

Fiala allegedly threatened to kill the youth if he told anyone -- threats he repeated in daily text messages, Rhodes said, and Fiala also threatened to kill himself, telling the teen they would "go to heaven together."

Letsinger said he got a call November 11 from the neighbor. The man at first just told authorities they should "be looking at this guy," the sheriff said, but later said Fiala had offered him $5,000 to kill the teenager. The allegation surprised him, Letsinger said

After weeks of feints and indecision, the USS George Washington will make an appearance on the Korean Peninsula this week, according to the Pentagon.

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U.S. and South Korean officials said in June that they would organize additional joint war-fighting exercises in the region as a show of force. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters Monday that the George Washington would participate in joint exercises with South Korean forces as soon as it departs Pusan on Sunday.

...

Hmmmm ... Wonder what's gonna happen if the North Korean Navy takes a hostile stance with a U.S. Navy carrier battle group? Can't be good.

The last election cycle demonstrated that even if you allow Wall Street and the corporations dictate a large portion of the policy, they will still fund campaigns to destroy you because they don't want their share or ten times their share, they want it all, all the time.

They are never going to stop going after social security. They want every single dollar of the education budgets. They do not want to pay any taxes for anything. They do not want any regulation that ties their hands with respect to their workers, the environment, or any other external costs imposed upon the public by their business activities. Oh yeah, and if they screw up and take the economy down, they want the government to bail them out.

They got everything they wanted the last couple of years, the stock market has rebounded, bonuses are hitting records, corporate profits are at an all time high, no one went to jail for their obvious crimes, and they still aren't happy and think Obama, who has been business friendly to a fault, is "hostile" to them.

At some point, we are going to have to realize we are dealing with sociopaths.

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Jill: $4-$6 trillion for war...and a decade later we're being frisked and strip-searched at airports

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After setting a TLC ratings record last week, Sarah Palin's reality show plummeted for its second episode.

Sarah Palin's Alaska fell 40% on Sunday night to 3 million viewers.Not many were in the key adult demo either. Only 885,000 viewers were ages 18-49, dropping 44% from last week.

In fact, the median age of the show is 57 — that's 15 years older than TLC's average.

They could probably survive on the drop in viewership, but the drop in desireable-aged viewers (to advertisers) will choke that freakshow and amature snuff film club off the air.

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And also snakes

Passenger finds gun clip on plane: the system works!

An annoying child on a Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank to Phoenix was rummaging around in a seat pocket and knocked a loaded gun magazine onto the floor. Hooray! Thank God we have those kajillion-dollar voyeur tubes to save us from weapons appearing on our airplanes! Flight attendants were given the clip, and when the plane landed, passengers were forced to go through a re-screening process when they landed. So let that be a lesson to you: If you find a weapon on an airplane, don't report it, or else the TSA will punish you and your fellow hurried passengers with even more intrusive screening. Oh, and where did this gun clip come from? TSA isn't really sure. READ MORE »

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The death of christian conservatism

Christmas-Hating Republican Party Selling 'Happy Holidays' Ornaments

Conservatives are constantly telling us we are not allowed to wish people "Happy Holidays," even if we don't know their religion, and even if we are talking to freedom-loving Israeli settlers, because everyone everywhere should celebrate Jesus' birfday. But apparently the Republican Party hates the baby messiah and his righteous Black Friday Taiwanese Blu-Ray players, because they are selling a "Limited Edition 2010 RNC Holiday Ornament" in their online store. WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO HANG THAT, RNC, ON A "HOLIDAY" TREE? Are we supposed to attach it to a shrine to Malcolm X/Michael Steele on "Kwanzaa"? Heathens!

Who tricked our Chinese factory-children Magi into making such a disgusting thing? This sounds like a job for the American Family Association!

Randy Sharp, director-special projects at the AFA, said that in the past five years the group has seen the percentage of retailers recognizing Christmas in their advertising rise from 20 percent to 80 percent. Just eight retailers are left on the group's list of "Companies Against Christmas."

Well, perfect! They need a new store to bully out of showing respect for people from diverse backgrounds, and we found one for them. We will not be buying ANYTHING from the GOP store this Christmas until they apologize to the Baby Jesus for offending his Chosen People: White Evangelicals with too much time on their hands.

Meghan McCain, daughter of Arizona Sen. John McCain, might be seeking to avenge her father's 2008 presidential loss by becoming a GOP strategist next election season in order to "kick Obama's ass" in 2012.

Jesus Christ on a Slip 'n Slide. Another heiress born on third base thinking she hit a triple. Or is it something else, Meghan? Are you trying to wrest attention away from the Bristol Palin/DWTS/new Palin "book" trainwreck?

Sarah Palin is clearly a student of film history. So when she says Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of her "favorite movies," that it's "about timeless truths of America handed down to us from our forefathers and foremothers," that it's "wonderful" and "not pro-government, certainly, but definitely pro-American," she must know it was written by a communist, right?

Now imagine what Glenn Beck would do with this information if it pertained to any low level Obama administration official. He'd have 20 layers of arrows and photographs jammed onto his stupid chalkboard proving how it meant that President Obama was about to nationalize all industries and exterminate political enemies.

Surely, when Caterpillar and Morgan Stanley are swimming in lucre, life must be getting more wonderful for everyone.

Alas, no. Word that American businesses sucked in profits at an annualized pace of $1.66 trillion between July and September is certainly better than the alternative. Ditto, the wholly expected news that the economy grew faster than an initially reported 2 percent annual rate, reaching a still modest 2.5 percent. But none of this has translated into the sort of job growth that will be required to cut into an unemployment rate stuck at 9.6 percent.

American corporations are on pace to reap $1.66 trillion dollars in profits this year, and Corporate America is already sitting on piles of cash and refusing to expand or hire.

But if you believe the Republicans, we need to keep the Bush Tax Cuts inplace so big business will start hiring again. If the rich get to keep their taxes 3% lower, there will be a sudden firesale in hiring and all will be good and right in the world. Does anyone really believe that?

The news that the economy grew at a rate of 2.5% rather than the expected 2% is welcome, but unfortunately it is growing for the wrong people.

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"Without the TSA terrorists would blow up planes roughly as often as they currently destroy buses and trains, right?" Matt Yglesias

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Anyone who has been watching the U.S. political scene over the last while is quite aware that the process has turned into a circus act with the GOP leadership in Congress playing the role of ringmaster. The result has been one huge screwing of the poor, the unemployed, the uninsured, the middle class, the environment, immigrants and the economy…basically a royal screwing of the entire nation. As bizarre as it all was during the Bush years, it is nothing compared to the madness of the last two years. The election of a black liberal President has truly sent the right over the edge.

With just one more night of competition to go before we find out if Bristol Palin wins the hideous-yet-coveted Mirror Ball Trophy, the executive producer of "Dancing with the Stars" insists the show's security system is catching and expunging all those votes for her that are being cast by people using bogus e-mail addresses to game the voting system.

…a conservative blogger who's taking credit for the e-mail voting shenanigans, says he orchestrated the whole thing to pay back Democrats for years of voter fraud at the polls.

Amazing. It is only proper that Sarah Palin and her own personal collection of clowns and loons take center stage alongside an unprecedented fine collection of wingnuts. We live in interesting times no doubt.

The bad news: Obama would crush her in the general election by a 48% – 40% margin.

Polls of this sort, two years before the actual election and before prospective candidates have begun campaigning in earnest, are meaningless. But it does say something of the mindset of Republicans who despite Palin's glaring inadequacies, still view her as a serious contender. Interesting…if not pathetic.

A more relevant find from the poll is that by a 64 to 27 percent margin, Democratic voters want Barack Obama as their party's 2012 nominee.